Fat and Sugar

Fat and Sugar

Is fat or sugar the enemy when it comes to overcoming heart disease? CBC Radio examines this question in an episode, featuring experts such as Gary Taubes, Nina Teicholz and Dr. David Ludwig.

First, fat was the dietary bad guy. We were warned back in the 1980s to cut back on eggs, meat and full-fat dairy to avoid heart disease. So we started eating more bread, rice and pasta and fat-free snacks. But we got sicker and fatter. Now sugar is the bad guy. Contributor Jill Eisen explores the complex, and sometimes contradictory, science of nutrition -- and tries to find clarity amidst the thicket of studies and ambiguous research.

"It's the hormone insulin that makes you fat and keeps you fat. It's also the hormone insulin in excess that's the number one predictor of heart disease. In essence we've been fighting the wrong enemy the last 15 years. The enemy has never been fat. The enemy has been excess production of insulin.

"Farmers have known for thousands of years, the way you fatten up any animal is to put them in a pen so they can't run around, and then you feed them lots of grain, basically carbohydrates, whole-grain carbohydrates. Those animals predictably get fat. So we've basically created a North American feed lot where we have people exercising very little, eating lots of refined starches. Things like white bread and potatoes and white rice as well as all the sodas and things made with large amounts of sugar. And not surprisingly, we're getting fat." 

Guests on the program

Gary Taubes, science journalist, author of Why We Get Fat, and Good Calories, Bad Calories
Nina Teicholz, science journalist, author of The Big Fat Surprise
and many more.

Listen to Fat and Sugar radio program